Rotary gas-engine.



PATBN TED Nov. 19. 1907. LBIBENGUTH;

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1 n, n ww am. NN

@Svi Valence Mli.

Stimm@ No, 871,523. PATENTED NOV. M19. 1907.

` T POLLOCK & W. F. LEIBBNGUTH.

ROTARY G AS ENGINB.` v'

APPLICATION FILED HAY 1?. 1907.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I :PATENTED NOV. 19. 1907. F. LEIBENGUTH.

I I r. PoLLooK & w.

' ROTAYGAS ENGINE. ArPLmuIoN Hmm MAY 17. 1907.

4 'SHEETS-SHEET a.

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No. 871,523. PATBNTED N ov. 19, 19o?. J. PoLLocK @L w. P. LEIBENGUTH.

RUTARY GAS ENGINE.

APPLIOATION FILED MM 1v. 19o?.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

' narran secarse 'JAMES iOLLOGK, OF `\/VILKES-.BARRE, AND WALTER F. LEIBENGUTI-I, OF DORRANCETON,

rfi-rims onirica.

Specification of Letters atent.

Patented Nov. 19, 1907.

Application lilcd May 17.1907. Serial No. 374.229.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, .Latins PoLLocir and WALTER F.- Linnmreurn, citizens of the United States, residing at Nikos-Barre Vand Dorranccton, respectively, in the county ci Luzerne and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and nseiilil lmprovem ents in Rotary Gas-Engines, ol which the follow ing is a specification..

This invention comprises improvements in explosive engines having rotary pistons oi the ty e illustrated in the patent to W' alter F. lLei enguth No. 773,401, dated October 25th, 190i.

In the resent invention a series of pairs of Segmenta pistons are arranged in compartments of an engine cylinder and eipially spaced around the shafts so as to preserve the balance and not in succession, and the pistons in one or more of these compartments serre as pumps to compress the gas or mixture into a valve chamber, from whence it admitted in regulated quantities at proper intervals to the explosion chambers of the rem'aining compartments and there exploded against the pistons therein. The `valve mechanism regulates the quantity of explosive niixturepassing from the valve chamber into the explosion chambers, and a pressurecontrolled valve regulates'thc adn'iission o'l the mixture `to the pump compartments of the engine.

In the accompanying drawing, 'Figure 1 vis a vertical section through the engine, taken .on the' line 1-1 of Fig. 2, the-pistons being shown in Vside view, partly hrolien away; F ig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 oi Fig. 1 Fig. 3 is a section on' theI line 3-3 ol Fig. 1 Fig. i is a sectionon the line 4 4 o'i Fig. 1 g 'Ff section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1 j, F 6 is a 'section through the admission valve and casing taken on the line (5--6 of Fig. l; Fig. 7 is a plan view of the valve casing partly in central horiz'ontalscction 3 Fig. a similar view of the admission valve; Fig. 9 is a side view ol one of the partitions in the engine cylinder; Fig. l() is a section on the line -10 of Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a side elevation of the gears which connect the shafts o'll the engine, and Figs. 12 to 1d, inclusive, are detail views illustrating the operation of the admission valve.

Referring to the drawing, A indicates a suitahla-base and B indicates the engine frame or casing which comprises a double cylinder', consisting of the two connected halves, l) and b, having heads 1 and 2 at their ends and having transverse partitions c, c and c2 which divide the cylinder into four compartments d, d, .Zg, and d3. The cylinder is provided with a suitable water jacket, not shown. arallol shafts 3 and ll extend longitudinally through the cylinder and upon these shafts., within the compartments, are arranged pairs of cooperating semi-circular segmental pistons, e*e, j`- g-g and hw 7L. Each piston is mounted upon a cylin drical huh 5, which is secured to the shaft. The pistons ci' each pair are arranged relatively to one another so that the periphery of one ci the pistons will always he almost in Contact with the Ahub of the other.

The pairs of pistons j'--j and 71.71/ -in the compartments d and d, which are the eX- plosion compartments oll the engine, are arranged respectively 90 degrees apart on the shafts, and the pairs of pistons c-c and g-g in the compression compartments d and d2 are arranged Q0 degrees apart, the arrangement being such as to preserve a good mechanical balance. Valve mechanism, hereinafter descrihcd,'is arranged to admit cX- plosive mixture into combustion chambers 6 and 6 (Figs. 1, 3 and 5), alternately at each quarter revolution of the piston shafts 3 and 4. Gears 7 and S (Figs. 1 and 11) ol e ual diameters are secured to the shafts 3 an( 4, respectively, and these gears mesh with one another, so that the shafts rotate in unison and keep the pistons in fixed relation to one another. A valve shaft 10 is turned at twice lthe speed of the shafts 3 and 4 by means of a gear 11 upon the shaft 3 which drives a gear 12yupon the valve shaft, through an inten.

mediate gear 12,l These gears'are all in-r closed Within a suitable gear casing 13. `The piston shaft 4- 1s mounted m bearings one ol' said bearings being secured to the cylinder head 2 and the other being/secured to the gear casing. The piston shalt 3 is mounted in similar bearings, not shown in the drawing, and thc valve shaft is mounted in bear# ings j and j secured to the piston head 2 the gear casing, respectively'.

Each ol the bearings K for the piston and.

shafts comprises an outer sleeve 17, secured tothe frame, and an inner sleeve 18, which is threaded into the outer sleeve. The inner point than another, the sleeve may be turned so as to present another portion of its surface at the point oll greatest wear.

No' packing is used on the pistons except on those laces of the pistons which adjoin the cylinder heads 1 and 2, where rings 20' are fitted into the piston faces.

'A storage chamber N is suit-ably secured upon the top .of the cylinder, and between the storage chamber and the cylinder is arranged a cylindrical valve easing L, having lonfr circumferential slots 24, 24 (Figs. 1, 6

f an( 'lwhich register with slots 25, 25, re-

spectivel`\ f', of,:orresponding length, in the lower curved wall 26 ol the storage chamber. The Valve easing remains stationary, its ends abutting against the heads l and 2, which are extended above the cylinder, as shown in Fig. 1. rl`he valve casing has in its lower wall, over the explosion chambers 6, 6, two series if circuml'erentiallyv extending wedge shaped slots or ports fr, 1c', each slot having one side, 27, in a plane at right angles to the axis of the cylinder, and the opposing side 428 at an angle to the axis oi the cylinder.

Within the valve casing is arranged a Valve M, consisting ol' a hollow cylinder having suitable openings in its ends 29 and 3() for the Valve shaft 1() to extend through. The Valve is connected-to the Valve shaltby a key 31. so as to rotate with the shaft, but it is free to move longitudinally on the shalt. The Valve shaft is held against longitudinal movement by the conical bearings j and j, and stuffing boxes 32, 32 are provided to prevent the escape ol.' from the Valve casing.

The valve stein .33 extends through the stuliing box 32"* and into an axial opening in the adjareiit end of the 'valve shalt and is connected to a crosshead IM arranged within acavit'y 35 in the shalt. A pin 36 extends through the crosshead and through a slot 5&7 in the shaft and into the head 3() of they valve cylinder, so that/a longitudinal movement of the valve stem 333 will cause the' Valve to slide along the valve shalt. The outer end of the valve shaft has a pin and slot connection with one arm of an operating lever 36?, which may be connected to a suitable governor, or moved by hand.

The valve has two circular series ol' ports,

L10/andai, which are in line with the. ports 2a anda inthevalve casing, respectively,

when the valve is at the left hand limit 'of its movement, as shown in F ig. 1, so that the can pass directly from the storage chamber or reservoir N through the ports in the valve casing and valve into the interior of the valve at all times exceptwhen the valve is at the right hand limit of its movement, when the ports 40 and 41 will be out of the line with the ports inthe valve casing. At intermediate @sit-ions of the valve the admission of gas through the ports 40 and 41 will be more or less throttled. The valve also has two series of outlet ports, m, m arranged to admit gas from the interior of the valve through the ports and as in the valve casing and thence through the ports l1, y in the cylinder into the explosion chambers 6, 6 of the several compartments alternately'. The outlet ports in tne valve are wedge-shaped and of the same size and formi-gas the outlet ports in the valve casingyrn it reversely arranged; that is, the sljzytvsin/'lie Valve diverge circumferen tial iii/she opposite direction from the slots A in the valve casing, as will be noted by com- )aring the slots 1n Fig. 7 with the slots m in `ig. 8, or by com arinv the slots x and min Figs. 12 to 16, an( the silanting walls 42 of the slots in the valve are at the left while the walls 43 which are at right angles to the axis of the valve are at the right, whereas in the valvel easing the inclined walls 28 are at the right and the walls 27 which are at right angles to the axis are at the left.

The valve rotates Within the valve casing in the direction indicated by the arrows and the two series/of outlet ports in the valve are' arranged 18() degrees apart o around the cylinder, so that as the" valve rotates one series of outlet ports in the valve will come opposite one series of outlet Orts in the va ve easing at earh half revo ution of theV valve. the Valve rotatesA twice foreach revolution of the piston shafts, gas is ad. initted to each explosion chamber of the cylinder twice during each revolution of the pistonshal'ts.l Thus referring t0 1 `igs.

3 and 5, when. the `ports m in the valve come opposite theports a: in the valve casing gas is admitted to the explosion chamber 6 of 115 the cylinder and Vexploded against one of the pistons, f, in the compartment d. 'After the piston shafts have turned through onefourth of a revolution, or an angle of 9() degrees, the piston, h, in the compartment d will be in position. to be acted upon, and bythis time the valve -will have made onehalf of a revolution, and gas will pass from the ports m through the Orts a into the explosion chamber 6a. iter the shafts 125 have made another one-fourth 0l a revolution and the. valve another one-half of' a revolution, is again admitted through the ports m and a: into the cham 'Der 6, and the piston f will then be in position to be acted smoes upon, end after thepiston shafts have nitide another oiit=,foiutli of e revolution :nid the valve hns nitide another half revolution, the pistou h will be in position to be iieted upon, and gas will be admitted to the elieinher 'd through the erts m. sind zr. The 'four pistons, f, i, j and 7i are thus sueeessively aeted upon by the explosions duringv euch revolution ol the piston shafts. Spark plugs s ere errunged in the explosion ehemhers und connected to e suitable eleetrie generator mid timingl device, unileeessairyr toillustrate.

The spent giises tire (L'tirried uroiintll l etween the ends ol tlie segiiit-.utiil pistons ond discharged through,exhaust ports p, p into exhaust pipes pi und p lending to the etniosphere. l

The gais or explosivemixture is t'iirried to the engine through, ii. supplyr pipe 'l` wliit'li connected to zin inlet port or pzissiigewtiy 5t) in the upper port olf rthe engine easing, midway between the piston shafts, lending into the eoniptirtnient d of the engine. A branch pipe t lends from the suppl)vv pipe to e eori'esiioiuling,l piissugewtiy 5U for stdoutting the mixture to the eoiiipertiiient d". ,In the nniin supply pipe l is arranged ii valve .51 which is nornnilly held open Vhy n vspring 52, arranged within e Ieasing 53 lieneutli ai piston or u Yplunger 54 which is secured to the vulve stein. A pipe lends from the easing or cylinder 53 to the storage eheinoerfor reservoir N, the arrangement `being suoli that the gas pressure in the listorxige reservoir Vwill regulate the position of the throttle vulve 51, sind thus the supply of mixture. to the compression compartments of the Cylinder will he regulated by the pressure in the storage chamber.

As' the engine rotates the' pistons .in the compression oonipertiiients d nid d2 dre-iv in ,the as or exilosive in ixture-throuifli )erts andO and force it through ports 5G end 56", respeetively, froni'w'henee the mixture 'Vis carried through pipes 57 and 5S to e trunk 'pipe `5t) shove the reservoir N. This trunk `pipe is oonneetedhr e. hrenrh t3() to the reser- Voir.` In the positions of the pistons reproseiited in Figs. 2 und 4, ii heroe oil ges is being drown into the eompiirtnieiit d-hy the piston e', end n eluirge is heine eurried around to the exhaust port 5o by the piston e; the

l iston g is eoiiiineneing to dfiiw iii e. charge oni the inlet port 5U" :ind is forcingr o charge out through the exhaust port 56, and Vthe piston g is carrying ii elnirge nround to the exhaust port.

Wlule We lnive rel'erred to the chamber N as a, sterline reservoir it will' be understood c i. thutthe pipes lending troni the eiieeli-viilves filete fsa-id elniiiihor, und also the hollow 'votive M which is noriiiellyin eomniuiiiew tion with seid chamber muy be eonsidered ports olt the reservoir lor storinff ons 0r plosive n'ii \;ture under pressure.

lt is not essentiel to the suroessl'ul opt-nid tion of our invention to ineke the outlet ports in the vulve raising lifiiid vulve M u'edge-sli:iped, hut we preferably multe them wedge-sluiped heetuise with this eonstruetiou n closer regulation of the iiiiiount o'l ptissinzgr through the ports ohtiiinedtliuii il the ports consisted oil struieht slots. l

The operiition ol. the votre .M is illustrated hy the detail views, Figs. l2' to lt' inclusive, in wliieh u` portion of the 'vi lve M indituted its moving in the direction ott the arrows over the ports :i: in the *vulve riisiiitf.- Figs. lf2, 113 and i4 illustrate surressire relative positions of the outlet ports in the vulve und cusini:r when the votre is in. the left hund position shown in Fig. l, .in which the ports fire in register, und Figs. t5 sind to illust-rete successive relative positions oi seid ports when the 'valve luis heenshilfted to the right in Fig. l hy the notion ol'l :i governor or hy hund.

As shown in Fig. 12, when the 'vulve is in its lolt lniiid position, :is the vulve rotates the wider ends or hoses ol the slots in iii the voire approach und pziss over the wider ends or hoses of the slots r in the valve easing, the wider ends of the slots in. extending: entirely ueross the slots It', forming wide 'reeizunguhir openings,through the ports, :it the oommeneeineiit of the iiioreinent, 'wliieli l As the valve nieves to the position iiidiented in Fig. 115, wherein, the ends of the ports in the vulve end vnlve easing nre coincident, the openings for the admission of to the cylinder through seid ports hei-.ome gradually longer und intrrower, but still here large nreiis. l e vulve moves l'roin the position shown 125 to that shown in Fig. iff, it will he noted tluittlie vulve gi'ndinilly tliiottles the gos, the openings through the ports lieeomintf narrower iis the inelined sides 42 und 2S, res]eetively, of the ports zipprozieh one tinotliei, :ind sliorte' :is the inirrower ends ol` the ports or slots m zipproiieli thennirooor ends ol' "ilu: ports fr. 11i the left hund position oi the vulve, therefore, ens is admitted throughout the entire movement ol n serios olt outlet ports in the vulve pest the eooperating series ol outlet ports in thewfiilve esisiiig. vWhen the "vulve is moved to the right of Fig. 1, to n grenier oi' less extent, the inlet ports 4l) iind Lll in the vulve more out oi register with the ports 24 :ind 24", respontively, in the vulve fusing, thus throttlint;- gris entering through sind ports into the interior ol' t-lie vulve. At the sume time the outlet ports Am in the votre :ire shifted litternlly re titivel)Y 'to the outlet ports Z' in the l other. It will be seen therefore that in this right hand iosition of the valve., only a small quantity of gas admitted when the ports first overlap and that the gas is cut oil at or before the time when the ports in the valve have moved halfway past the ports in the .valve casing.

Owing to the peculiar forni and arrangemen/t of the ports in the valve and valve casing, the openings through said ports, in any position of the valve, grow longer and narrower and are then closed b v the approach lof the inclined sides of the ports, and when the valve is moved from its extreme left hand position, the gas is eut oil' before the ports in the valve have passed beyond the ports in 'the valve casing, the point of cut oft' being regulated by the position of the valve which in turn is regilatcd by the load on the engine and the speed, when an automatic governor is used.

'As the valve rotates at a relatively high rate of speed, it may be moved,longitudi nally with very little frictional resistance and as there are a large number of outlet ports in the valve and valve casing, a very slight movementof the valve causes a comparatively large increase or decrease, as the case ma)r be, in the combined arcas of the outlet openings through the valve and casing. At the same time, the admission of gas through the inlet ports to the interior of the valve is varied by the will be seen that this valve mechanism position of the valve. and it makes the engine sensitive to very slight adjustnient of the valve. Any suitable form of centrifugal governor may be used to operto open wider and admitmore gas to ",.the compression compartments. Thusl a practically constant gas pressure is automatic e.

'maintained in the reservoir.

All the parts of the engine are accurately fitted. The partitions between the pistons, each, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, consist of two similar parts having tween them. The hubs 5 for the pistons are preferabhv cast liollow,las shown in Fig. 2,

yand are accurateljY turned, and the pistons are accurately turned on their inner faces to iit the hubs and bolted thereto b v countersunk bolts. The arrangement of the pistons on' the shafts gives the engine a perfect me-I chanical balance, and this, with the admission-of gas to the four pistons iii succession during each revolution makes the engine run smoothly.

lYliat we claim ,1. In a rotary gas engine a cvlinder, a pair of parallel piston shafts extending therethrough and geared together, apair vof cooperating semi-circular pistons upon shafts, a reservoir, means for compressing gas into said reservoir. and a rotarv valve geared to one of said shafts and having ports arranged to admit gas from said reservoir into said cylinder twice during each revolution of the piston shafts. A,

2. In a rotar)T gas engine, a cylinder having several explosion compartments, a pair of parallel shafts extending through said compartments and ,operating semi-circular pistons on said shafts in each compartment, the pairs of pisgeared together, a. pair of means for storing a supply of gas under pressure, and a rotary valve geared to one of said shafts and having ports arranged to admit gas from said storage means to the explosion compartments of the engine'. successively, twice during each revolution of the shafts.

3. In a rotary gas engine, a c vlinder hav- 'ng an explosion compartment and a compression compartment, a pair of parallel i shafts extending through said compartments ate the valve, or it niavv be operated manul ally when the engine is used on automobiles or for other purposes where a governor is not .t

' gas connected to the exhaust port of said moved to reduce the suppl)Y oi' compressed gas flowing i ports arranged to admit gas from said reserrequired;

lf the admission valve M is from t-lie reservoir to the explosion compartments of the engine, the increased pressure 1 during each revolution of the shafts in the reservoir will cause the pressure con- `trollcd throttle Yalve 5l to iiiovc'towards its seat thus throttliiig the supply of gas flowing coiiipri s to the compression compartments, so,that a,

smaller quantit)r of gas will he forced, into the' reservoir, and when the valve .\l is moved to admit a greater qu'aiititniV of gas to the explosion compartmen ts,

and geared together. a pair of cooperating semi-'circular lpistons on said shafts in each of said compartments, a storage reservoir for compression compartment, and a rotary valve geared to one of said shafts and having voir to said explosion compartment twice 4. In a rotary gas engine, a c vliiider hav` ing several explosion coiii'iartiiieiits and a ion coiiipariiiicnt. a pair of parallel shafts cxtciidiiiff through safd' coiiipartiiielits and geared togethei; :i pair oll eoopcrating send-circular pistons on said shafts in cacl coiapartment, the pairs ot pistons in explosion coiiipai'tinent-s being arranged in different angular positions on the shafts, a storage reservoir for gas connected to the exhaust port of raid compression compartment, and a rotary valve geared to one of .aid shafts and having ports arranged to advmit gas .fromsaid reservoir 'to said explosion compartments, successively, 4'twice during each revolution of the shafts.

5.5111 a rotary gasengine, a cylinder having `apluralitygof explosion compartments and a plurality of com resson compartments, apairl of paralle shafts extending through said compartments and geared together, a pair of cooperating semi-circular pistons on said shafts 1n each compartment, the pairs o.' istons in the explosion compartments being arranged in different angular positions on the shafts, a storage reser-4 voir for gas connected to the exhaust ort of each compression compartment, an a rotary valve4 geared to one of said shafts and having ports arranged to admit gas from ysaid reservoir to said ex losion compartments, successively, twice uring each revo- 5 lution of the shafts.

6. yIn a rotary gas engine, a cylinder having `an explosion compartment and a compression compartment, a pair lof parallel shafts extending through said compartments and geared together, a pair, of cooperating semi-,circular pistons in each of said compartments, a storage reservoir for gas connected to the exhaust port of said compres sion compartment, valve mechanism' arranged'` to ladmit gas from said reservoir to said explosion com artment twice during eachrevolution of t e shafts, a supply conduit leading to the inlet port of the compression-compartment, a normally open valve in i Witnesses:

said conduit, and connections for moving 40 said normally open valve toward closed posi tion by the gas pressure in the reservoir.

7. ln a rotary gas engine, a cylinder `having an explosion compartment and a com pression compartment, va pair o parallel shafts extending through said compartments and geared together, a pair of cooperating semi-circular pistons in each of said compartments, a storage reservoir for gas connected to the exhaust port of said compression comiartment, a valve arranged to admit gas lrom said reservoir to said explosion compartment twice during each revolution of the shafts and adjustable to vary the uantity of gas admitted, a supply conduit lea ing to the inlet port of the compression compartment, a normally o en valve in said conduit, and connections or moving said normall openl valve toward closed position by t e gas pressure in tl'ie'reservoir.

S. In a rotary gas engine, an explosion compartment, a compression compartment, a reservoir connected to the outlet port of the compression compartment, a `Valve adapted to regulate the supply of gas rom said reservoir -to the explos1on compartment, a throt- 'tle valve for controlling the admission of gas to the compression compartment, and means for regulating the position oi said latter valve according to variations in the pressure inthe reservoir.

- ln'testimony whereof we aliix our signatures, in'presence of two Witnes es.

'JAMES POLLOCK.

WALTER F. LEIBENGUTH.

JOHN T. KILLEEN, W. F. BARRY. 

